The practice is simple. You take a soft-bristle, preferably natural, brush and, before your shower, spend a couple of minutes brushing long strokes up your body from your toes and in from your fingertips. Be certain not to brush too hard, but brush hard enough to get the circulation going, and make the strokes as long as you can rather than settling for short strokes.
If you Google "lymphatic brushing," you'll see lots of raves about it. The benefits range from stimulating circulation and exfoliating dry skin all the way to diminishing cellulite and helping your lymphatic system rid your body of toxins, hence the name. Since I've just started, I can attest to the first two, which is good enough for me at the moment -- heaven knows, I need some exfoliation and increased circulation after this last winter-that-wouldn't-quit.
What will make this a sustainable practice is if I start feeling that it helps my body be healthier. I'm already a practitioner of and believer in yoga, so I really do think some of these simple ideas can help wring toxins from your body and help your body recover from the daily wear and tear and proceed on in a healthier way. Obviously, health is a resource that we can't squander, and getting it back once it is endangered is a difficult and sometimes expensive process. A little maintenance on the front end can't hurt. And even when we are fighting large or small physical challenges, some simple practices that help our bodies work better are a good idea.
So the jury is still out on this one. Obviously, you can see from the picture that I need to find the ideal natural-fiber brush; I picked up the softest one I could find at the grocery, but it isn't natural fiber. I'll report back when I have a preliminary conclusion, but for now, I'd say this is a pretty pleasant way to exfoliate at the very least?
Have you tried lymphatic brushing? Leave your experience in the comments!
Having read all about the brushing, I wondered and did nothing. Any brush on my skin would cause me to itch and break out in a welt anywhere the end of the brush fiber touched me. I decided I could attach a wash cloth to a long spoon or something and use that. I have not.
ReplyDeleteThen, I read that this practice does absolutely nothing to banish even a smidgen of cellulite. But, I thought the MD type was pretty harsh. For every minute of brushing, that is a minute the person is not eating, not sitting absolutely still. Plus, the brush industry was not going to profit by monthly brush purchases as would happen if it were a prescription. All the "tomorrows" and "tomorrows" still have not seen me fashion something I can use....sigh.
When I have a swollen gland in my throat/neck, I started stroking my neck from under my ear and jaw to my collarbone. I would fan out over the area my fingers last touched at my collarbone. The infection in my lymph gland would go away and my fever would be much lower. So, I have done this for 30 years.
One day, a nurse friend was here, and I was stroking my neck. I told her what I was doing and why and did it do any good. She said, "Sure, it's called milking the glands." These a lymph glands, I suppose. We did not discuss it further.
So, it stands to reason that stroking would remove toxins via the lymphatic system, a system that is all over our bodies.
Since I cannot stand a makeup brush on my face or a lip brush, I won't be brushing my body, but I do believe it is beneficial.
I am still blogging, just cannot get into my blog to post.